Task 2 - Reasearch and Planning (Case Study 2) -Q Magazine

Front Cover:

• The masthead of this music magazine is placed in the top left corner of the front cover and just like in other magazines it the most eye catching text on the page and this should always be the case because the masthead is the part of the magazine that the reader is suppose to remember.
• The cover star in this issue of Q magazine is Lady Gaga and the image used is a media long shot of her. What she is wearing goes well with the colour scheme which consists of red, white and black. She is not wearing much which is typical and expected from Lady Gaga but she is wearing is black and although this is part of the colour scheme she still does stand out really well and this is due to the fact that there is not as much black text on the front cover as there is white or red text so most of the black seen on the front cover page is on Lady Gaga. 
• The main cover line on the front cover page has been made really big across the middle of the page in capital letters and it is white, all these features contribute to how much it stands out which is a lot. The white against the grey background allows the colour to pop more. The cover star, Lady Gaga has covered parts of the main cover line, just enough for the reader to still be able to see what has been written there. The cover star also covers part of the masthead but when covering the masthead it doesn't matter how much of it is being covered because this is on every issue of the magazine and readers will remember what it is without seeing the whole thing on every magazine. How ever the main cover line on the magazine will be different on each issue of the magazine meaning it needs to be clear and obvious to the reader and also easy to read.
• Underneath the main cover line there are four other cover lines that quite simple just give the reader an idea of what other features there will be in this issue of the magazine. These cover lines are made really small in comparison to the main cover line and the text in the top left corner of the magazine but do still stand out because of the white highlight that has been put around each little cover line. In the top left corner of the cover page are some more cover line. One cover line begins using the name of the person  that will be featured in that article and the next cover line begins with a pull quote, this is effective as it uses a variety of techniques to persuade the reader to want to reader a specific article other that the main one.
• In the bottom left corner just like in other magazine there is a bar code and a price. The price has been made quite small on the front cover, I think this is effective because is makes it not very noticeable to the reader enabling them to look through the magazine to see if they like what they see and are interested in buying before looking to see how much the magazine costs rather than straight away seeing the price and being put off by it and not even taking a look through the magazine at all.

Contents Page:

• Due to the fact that the magazine contents page is spread over two page it makes it unconventional, having said that this could be very appealing to the reader as they will get the impression that the magazine is jam packed with so much that the reader would be interested in. Although there is a lot going on in this contents page, it is still quite neat and organised which is effective as it makes the reader actually want to read it as things that are well organised are more appealing to the eye.
• On the second page of the contents, the issue number is shown clearly at the top indicating to the reader that the magazine is consistent and successful with how many magazine they have already had published. and this also means that the content in the magazine is good and appealing to a specific audience..
• At the bottom on both pages is the website for the magazine which in a way tells the reader that there is a lot more to been seen on the website and or that instead of reading a paperback version of the magazine it can be read online. also at the bottom of each page is the name of the magazine next to each page number, this is effective as it is a good way of helping the reader to remember the name of the magazine without having to going back to the cover page.
• The colour scheme that consists of red, white and black has been kept consistent from the cover page which is good because on both the cover and contents page there seems to be a lot going on so keeping the colours the same keeps it from become too overwhelming for the reader which would quite simply out them off from reading the magazine.
• The first page of the contents page is more than likely the first side that the reader will look at so it is perfect that the features of this issue are listed on this side because people that read each issue of Q magazine already know the regulars and probably most look forward to seeing the new features in each issue.
• On the second page of the contents the regulars are listed and I couldn't help but notice that words are highlighted in different colours in the subheading under the regulars. Such as the word "special" which has been highlighted red unlike the rest of the subheading. This does a really good job at attracting the reader to this section of the contents page as although it is listed under the regulars section meaning that this will be in every issue of the magazine it give it a bit more of importance.
• A lot of the magazines articles have  been shown on the contents page in pictures instead of text which gives  the illusion that there is less on the contents page than there really is. In addition to this, having some of the articles presented as images could be a way of engaging the reader more as it allows them to see who is featured in the article without having to flip through the magazine to fine a specific article.

Double Page Spread:

• Once again the colour scheme which consists of red, white and black has been kept the same for the double page spread, which helps the reader to relate it to the front cover and remind them of what the front cover looks like without having to go back to it. This also helps the reader to remember the name of the magazine for future reference.
• The whole double page spread looks quite formal from the whole layout and simple colours and fonts. It had the typical layout of a double page spread which consists of a picture taking up one page of the double page spread and the other page being full of text. and the neatness of the columns on the second page adds onto the formal look of the double page spread.
• The image of Lady Gaga represents her in a sexual way due to the fact that she has no clothing on and is using a necklace and her hands to cover up her chest area. Her music is mostly enjoyed by females so this could ibe her way of gaining a hgher number of male fans because the sexual aspect of this picture is more appealing to males than it would be to females.
• There doesn't seem to be a specific title to this double page spread all that is at the top is her name and it is not big. I think is was kept small to keep all the attention on the picture of her. Her hair in the image used it a more messy but stylish kind of style which suits the genre of music that she makes. Her facial expression in the image also adds onto the sexual feel of the image because she looks quite fierce which would be attractive to males.